From the research that I've done on this ever recurring topic, I was under the impression that it is totally illegal to work in Thailand without a degree.
......Until I got hold of a placement agency.

Please see below excerpt of the response that I received from them:

"We have had many people worried about the degree issue. Normally to teach in Thailand they do require you have a degree, however because they are in such need of teachers, the schools that offer you the job simply request a pardon from the government to have a non degree holder to be a teacher at their school. It has never been a problem and the government is quite happy to allow this. We have a letter from the Thai Government that states that it is fine for non degree holders as long as the schools send them proper documents. That’s also why it is better to go through an agency as we have relationships with these schools who allow non degree holders to be teachers. "

I would really appreciate your input on the above statement.

....Also, I heard that if you teach in the Southern parts of Thailand it is mostly Muslim controlled and therefore very strict in the way of drinking, smoking etc. and as a result having a bit of fun is taboo! ...really don't know how true this is, but would like to know your opinions?

I have said this before on this forum and I will say it again....anyone can teach English in Thailand...that is of course...that speaks English!!!! The question is how much you wish to get paid to do it....and now you wish you hadn't asked!!!

I really want to teach in Thailand, but I don't want to be in Bangkok (far too much pollution and way too much hustle and bustle for my liking)

I believe that teaching in tourist areas such as Phuket and Chiang Mai is nothing but a pipe dream for a newbie, due to the high demand to work in these popular areas.

....are there any other areas that fit the kind of profile that Phuket and Chiang Mai has, where it is possible for a newbie like me to land a job?
....or am I being unrealistic and should I just accept that Bangkok is my only real option?

As for non-Bangkok jobs, there is for example one on the jobs board here for Surat Thani, which appears to be on the cost and quite near Phuket, and one on MOD EDIT, for "southern Thailand." Do keep in mind that that the Malay Muslim population—and thus the insurgency—covers only a tiny part of the southernmost region of southern Thailand; the bulk of "southern Thailand" is Thai Buddhist and includes places like Phuket and Surat Thani.

There's more such jobs on Dave's, but I'm not going to link to all of them.

Is the Thai government cracking down on those without a degree/will they in the near future?

No degree = no proper visa and no work permit.
No degree, in spite of what you get told means regular border runs and/or working illegally on tourist visas or an EDU visa (with "not legal to work" clearly printed on the face of it).
No degree = no temp teaching license or waiver from the Thai Teacher's Council.

Can you get work = yes.
If you are illegal and someone makes a fuss can there be consequences = YES.

Are they cracking down as in, "Are the immigration police are routinely checking language academies and looking for illegal teachers?" = no.

Superman99 wrote:

....Also, I heard that if you teach in the Southern parts of Thailand it is mostly Muslim controlled and therefore very strict in the way of drinking, smoking etc. and as a result having a bit of fun is taboo! ...really don't know how true this is, but would like to know your opinions?

That would be the 4 southern most provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani, Yala and Songkhla and the intensity ranges from simple assassinations by hit squads to outright combat zones.

There are foriegn teachers that teach in those areas and I have never heard anything bad ever happening to them down there. The insurgency is directed against Thais and Thai culture. I could be wrong, but nobody I have ever talked to has heard any bad news regarding English teachers down there.

Is the Thai government cracking down on those without a degree/will they in the near future?

They are not, nor is it likely that they are going to in the future. The only problem is that the easiest way to circumvent the legal process is getting double entry tourist visas in Vientienne, Laos. After about 5 or so visas the embassy in Laos (no where else that I know of) stops giving them because they suspect you are teaching illegally. So expect to be able to work for at least one year with very little problems from the government concerning working illegally. However you might take into consideration if you are working illegally you might get a lot less help from the police (who are generally already feckless anyway ) concerning problems that might arise in Thailand.

In some ways its more convenient for a school to hire teachers illegally and so they do it all the time and the government understands that and turns a blind eye to it.

"We have had many people worried about the degree issue. Normally to teach in Thailand they do require you have a degree, however because they are in such need of teachers, the schools that offer you the job simply request a pardon from the government to have a non degree holder to be a teacher at their school. It has never been a problem and the government is quite happy to allow this. We have a letter from the Thai Government that states that it is fine for non degree holders as long as the schools send them proper documents. That’s also why it is better to go through an agency as we have relationships with these schools who allow non degree holders to be teachers. "

I've hever heard that before. Is it possible that the recruiter knows that they can easily hire you illegally therefore thier attitude is what difference does it make if we make a few things up? Recruiters can sort of be like that.

As for non-Bangkok jobs, there is for example one on the jobs board here for Surat Thani, which appears to be on the cost and quite near Phuket, and one on MOD EDIT, for "southern Thailand." Do keep in mind that that the Malay Muslim population—and thus the insurgency—covers only a tiny part of the southernmost region of southern Thailand; the bulk of "southern Thailand" is Thai Buddhist and includes places like Phuket and Surat Thani.

There's more such jobs on Dave's, but I'm not going to link to all of them.

Regards,
~Q

Thank you for sending those job links, will definitely check them out!
Happy to hear it's not all doom and gloom in southern Thailand